Beyond the yellow tape
by jetholiday16
Summary: "Paint beneath her nails, not just any paint, but yellow spray paint"...  "Damn that girl is creepy"...  "More word on the slasher"...  "Kill, Kill, Kill"...  "Love Shizuo Heiwajima"...
1. Chapter 1

Ayano Sasaki had paint beneath her nails, and not just any paint, but yellow spray paint. Ayano at the young age of twenty three was working in a small corner store, where she was thankful for her beloved employee's discount, all her spare funding was to go to pre med school and she was gracious to any source of income or rollback she could get her hands on. But back to the paint beneath her nails…

Ayano had been walking home from work; she held her arm tightly around the stuffed paper bag as a bottle of dish soap began to try to fight its way out of her bag. As Ayano shifted the weight of her groceries to her left arm, and began to sift through the pockets of her favorite apron for her apartment keys, when she nearly tripped.

Ayano nearly dropped her groceries from stumbling. She glanced around and below to the ground, and this time she did drop her groceries. The egg and milk cartoon fell against the sidewalk, spilling out and making a mess of things. Ayano fell to her knees in shock. A young man lay curled, trembling on the sidewalk, his brown hair was bloodied, and he appeared in what parts of his skin were visible, were bruised and swollen. Forgetting her groceries, and gently turning over the fallen man, her medical training kicked in, and she gasped. On his chest, damp with yellow spray paint were two words that made her stomach drop, Yellow Scarves.

After shakily dialing for the ambulance on her purple cell phone, the dangling smiling sushi charm seemed irrelevant now as it hit against her fingers while she pressing the key. From her training she knew to keep the man's head elevated. She rested his head in her lap, and began searching through his pockets for some form of I.D. Inside the pocket of his jacket was a withered wallet, she was surprised the scarves hadn't taken it, sure it held only a small sum of money, but it also held a license, which was a form of I.D.

"So your name is Akifumi, huh? Well hi Akifumi, I'm Ayano, and there are doctors on their way to help you". Her breath was shaky, but she sighed attempting to steady her breath.

"W-W-Why"? Akifumi gasped quietly, Ayano noticed his breathing was irregular and labored, she guessed that his rib cage had been broken.

"It's my job, Akifumi. Now can you tell me why the Yellow Scars did this to you"? Maybe if she interrogated him far enough she'd have something to present to the police.

"It-It-It's because… I'm a part of the Dollars"… He wheezed while closing his eyes. Ayano's own widened and she gently shook his shoulder.

"Come on, Akifumi don't go to sleep till the ambulance get here"!

"This place looks pretty messy, is that your boyfriend"? A voice asks from behind, she turned back to glance up frightened. Was it more of the yellow scarves? Taking in the two men standing behind her, Ayano relaxed slightly. The two men behind her didn't have a scrape of yellow on them, well besides the guy dressed as a bartender. He had blonde hair, and unless he was an eccentric member of the Yellow Scarves, she didn't think he'd be that much of a threat. Though she reflexively held her hand over the injured mans forehead.

"No, I just found him laying here. An ambulance is on its way". The blonde man sighed and slides a pair of dark blue sunglasses up his nose, then turned to the man beside him with curled brown hair.

"You think it was the Yellow Scarves, Tom"? The bartender asked, in turn the man he was speaking to, Tom as Ayano gathered his name to be.

"If he's one of the Dollars, I wouldn't doubt it. I've been hearing rumors that their leader had called off all attacks, but some of them aren't obeying as easily. Looks like those rumors were true"… Shizuo turned back to the frightened girl who was surprisingly trying to shield the victim. Her mouth quivered, and her eyes were full of fear. Shizuo realized she could up and run away at any moment, but she sat there, amidst the paint, blood, and fallen groceries. It was sort of admirable, she was tiny and frail looking, looking like she could easily be knocked down in a fight.

"Are you hurt, miss"? Tom asked, extending his hand to her. Shizuo watched the girl's black eyes dart to the right for a moment, before laying the young man gently on the ground, and then taking his hand, Tom helped the young girl stand up and was released from his grasp.

"Damn it, my groceries"… She muttered, before kneeling back down and salvaging the last of her savable groceries. That included a head of lettuce, a box of flour, two cups of instant ramen, and a can of tomato sauce. Once more packing everything in her nearly ripped paper bag, Ayano wiped her hands clean of the blood and filth on her stained apron and sighed standing up clutching her groceries.

"I guess I should introduce myself, since you haven't tried to kill me yet… My name is Ayano Sasaki, random civilian". She tucked a loose hair back; her tight bun for work was beginning to come undone.

"My name is Tom Tanaka, and this is my partner Shizuo Heiwajima, nice to meet you Ayano". The man said indicating to his friend and smiling. It struck Ayano odd for a man to be smiling at this moment. Suddenly the flash of red and blue lights and the blaring sound of an Ambulance as it howled loudly as it rounded a corner.

"I guess that's my ride then"… Ayano said shifting her weight to her right leg.

Now Ayano fidgeted in the plastic of the waiting room chair in the lobby of the hospital. Her dirty apron had been taken to be cleaned and she smoothed the dirt from her pants. What was she even doing here? She didn't know the man who had been beaten; she just kept him barely alive until the ambulance had shown up.

Ayano rubbed her shoulder gingerly. The past week night, she had been laying pale faced in her own hospital room. That night she had been walking home from a late night class, massaging the burning ache in her shoulder and hugged her text book closer to her chest. She had made the foolish mistake of turning a short cut down an alley way, and had made a run in with the famous Ikebukuro slasher, and had her shoulder carved to pieces. Her arm was still heavily bandaged, and she had been wearing long sleeves despite the fact the weather was as warm as it was.

"Is this seat taken"? She glanced up from her thoughts, realizing someone was speaking to her, that bartender from before. She shook her head no, allowing him to take a seat freely beside her.

"So, I guess your name is Ayano then"? Shizuo asked, the young woman beside him nodded, he noticed she was fiddling with her hands. She had long slim fingers, and unpainted nails, well almost unpainted. There were flecks of yellow beneath the top of her nail, from where she had card for the young man. Her black hair was wound up tightly in a bun, but in the process of coming undone, her eyes were half lidded and her eyelashes skimmed the tops of her cheeks. She was cute, but haggard and tired looking. He noticed how she watched her fingernails.

"I know who you are, Shizuo, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, but also in your own mind the most unfortunate… Maybe you just need to be… Loved Shizuo Heiwajima"… The young nursing student stood up and exited the hospital, her remaining groceries clasped tightly in her arms. She hadn't known what had come over her, when she finished speaking to Shizuo. It hadn't been her first encounter with the man, but it had been the first were they had spoken. She had seen him rip lampposts and vending machines from their desperate grips to the ground. Though they didn't stand a chance against the great Shizuo Heiwajima…

Shizuo watched her walk away from the door of the hospital, clutching that battered shopping bag of hers tightly. Her eyes were narrowed as she weaved through out the crowd; she turned another corner and disappeared from sight. Just then Tom joined him, standing by his side.

"That guys in pretty bad shape, but he's going to survive". He said, Shizuo nodded, not really listening to his close friends talk.

"That girl Ayano is pretty damn creepy"… Shizuo muttered, suddenly a very familiar black bike parked in front of Shizuo.

"Celty, I was wondering when you were going to show up". Shizuo said to his very close friend, the rider stuck out her PDA and it read

"Get on, Shinra and I found more info on the slasher. It's something I think you might want to hear"… Tossing a black helmet made of her special substance to Shizuo; he fitted it comfortably, and got on the bike. He began bouncing up and down quickly muttering

"Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill"… Over and over again, Celty cocked her head in a way that if she had a head, it would clearly show how she was rolling her eyes. Shizuo was the most bipolar person she'd probably ever meet. Counting in the back of her mind on how many times he'd said kill in the past thirty seconds, Celty waved a goodbye to Tom and hit the gas. Signaling to her horse that it was time to head back home to Shrina's apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Ayano stood in her small kitchen, her aching feet clad in worn pink slippers. The kettle screeched, signaling that the hot water was done. Carefully gripping the rubber holder on the handle, she poured a fraction of the water into her instant ramen cup, some in her orange dented ceramic cup of coffee, and set the rest back on the stove which was now turned off.

Dropping into the raggedy dinning chair, Ayano leaned back. Her muscles and shoulder wound ached, and she desperately wanted to curl up and sleep, but she couldn't. She had night classes in three and a half hours, and it took nearly an hour to get to the university, not to mention the hour she used to study…

After dinner she had exactly an hour and a half to herself. Normally, she'd have a six hour difference between her day shift and work, but the hospital incident earlier had unbalanced her usual time slot… A short shrill ring disrupted the young girl from her thoughts. Jumping nearly from her skin, she flipped the top open, accessing her to the screen and number pad. She sighed and closed her phone yet again. Nakura had sent her another message, Ayano now regretted signing up to the chat site. Scoffing and muttering to herself how she didn't have time for this sort of thing, Ayano set her phone down and stepped into her dingy bathroom for a shower.

Now clean, she begun to rebadged her wound from the slasher. Ayano winced as the friction of the bandage rubbed to hard against her injury. She now had an hour and twenty minutes before she needed to head to the university.

Relaxing against the burgundy colored couch, she was now dressed in a dark green sweater with frayed cuffs, and a simple dark blue skirt. She braided her long damp hair into a braid as the old TV set droned on about yet another Yellow scarves attack on the man she had helped earlier. After tying the ends up into a rubber band, Ayano wound her damp braid into a tight bun. She never wore it down in public. Slouching and closing her eyes, Ayano decided a few minutes of shut eye wouldn't hurt…

Buttoning the last of her coat and clutching her textbooks, she exited her apartment, waving to her neighbor, a boy Mikaro from Raira academy. She once more glanced at her phone, and sighed. Another message from Nakura, asking about disappearing together, she deleted it and buried her phone into the depths her pocket.

Her mind was elsewhere as she walked to the university. She had been featured on the news for helping the injured man of the dollars. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to the men in yellow following her. But she wasn't, she was biting her chapped lip and in a daze as she walked the familiar lengths of the street.

Shizuo was already in a bad mood, he had just yet again missed his chance of killing Izaya, and had thrown out his shoulder in the process, so when he saw a group of yellow scarves pushing grouped circularly around some innocent victim, he saw red.

She hadn't been paying attention, as she turned down the dark roads that lead her to the school, and she should have. That's why she screamed when she was jumped. For that she'd have a lovely bruise on her calf from an iron pole. That knocked her from her feet and onto the ground. Several men clad in yellow grinned down at her malevolently. She leaned back on her palms, as gravel dug itself into the soft flesh of her hands and sighed.

"So, you're the ho who helped that guy in the dollars, are you"? A gutsier man sauntered over to her, in an attempt at a swagger that was almost laughable. He had the nerve to cup her face with his revolting sausage fingers, and she jerked her chin from his grasp. She glared at him with hard eyes and bared her teeth. No she wasn't threatening, but she at least tried some sort of self defense.

Her long hair fell in curtains, tickling her elbows. Being knocked around like she was, had let it loose from the bindings she had captured it in.

"What do you know guys, she's kind of cute"! Ayano blocked out her attackers rancid comments and focused on her right leg. She couldn't decide whether she hated her skirt, or appreciated it at the moment. On the bright side, she could determine how serious her newest injury was, though on the shadier side, she was more exposed then she would be, had she left the house wearing a pair of pants. She was so busy analyzing her skirt and calf, that it took her for a shock to see an out of breath blonde man dressed in a bartender's outfit, grinding his cigarette into the pavement.

"Shizuo, is that you"? Asked the girl while getting to her feet, it was obvious how she leaned to the side in an attempt to balance her weight on her other leg.

"Hey, you're the Ayano girl from before". Ayano nodded and bowed.

"Thank you so very much, but I have to go! I'm late for class"! He watched her hurry down the street, and then once she thought she was out of sight, put her weight on one leg, and limped. Shizuo felt the anger build in him once more, and he then dug the heel of his shoe into the hand of a fallen member of the yellow scarves, who in turn screamed out in pain.

She tried to pay attention to her teacher's lecture, but the ache in her leg was ridicules. She set her canned drink from the vending machine against it, to maybe slow down the swelling and numb the pain. It worked a little, but she didn't want to risk calling attention to herself, so after a few more seconds of icing, she removed the can of cold drink and returned back to her notes.

"I've got to say, that I'm impressed Shizu-chan, saving a damsel in distress without viciously maiming her". Shizuo turned to the voice. Izaya Orihara, his nemesis stood on the edge of the low roof above him, wearing his usual self satisfied smirk Shizuo cracked his knuckles loudly searched the dim road for some sort of weapon. Deciding against it, Shizuo began climbing up the fire escape, once on the roof; Izaya laughed and began hoping the short distance between the roofs of the buildings.

"Izaya"! Shizuo yelled while chasing afterword.

Shinra and Celty sat side by side watching a show on aliens. Shinra watched as Celty's hands curled into tight fists against her knees.

"Celty, if these shows scare you so much, why watch them"? Celty quickly typed on her PDA, never moving her line of vision from the TV.

"I want to know as much as possible, in case we ever have to fight them". Shinra chuckled genuinely and smiled.

"Ah Celty, you are one of a kind"…

Ayano had taken the subway home, and now was setting an icepack against the swollen part of her ankle. Thankfully the next two days were Saturday and Sunday, meaning she'd have time to rest up. Laying in the semi comforts of her springy bed, Ayano sighed and crawled beneath the warmth of her covers.

"Just who are you…? Shizuo Heiwajima, and why do I wish to love you"?


	3. Chapter 3

Izaya Orihara smirked and spun in his chair, grinning wildly. She could ignore him like she was now, but until Ayano Sasaki met him on the roof like so many others did and either fell to her demise or he humiliated her, Izaya refused to let her go without being ignored.

She considered getting her cell phone and all internet usernames and accounts deleted, Nakura could find her anywhere online. He was always asking to disappear with him. She always pressed the upper right hand key, on screen was represented with a cartoon image of a trash can. It didn't take rocket science to figure out what that was represented.

"Excuse me, miss"? A voice wondered which then made Ayano jump realizing that she had a short line of customers. Smiling shyly and busying herself ringing up prices on milk, a bread loaf, or dish towels. She was at work, she needed to focus. A few moments later, and several strained polite smiles, she set the last receipt pinned to a paper bag and sent it with a bumbling old lady. She relaxed and turned her back to the counter, her elbows resting on the cold linoleum she had wiped down the previous morning.

"I don't mean to sound repetitive, but excuse me"? She straightened her posture, and turned around. A man seemingly around her age smiled crookedly. It struck her odd, how he was wearing a sweatshirt with woolen cuffs, with dark hair.

"I apologize sir; it's one of those mornings". She said to herself more than anything else as she tucked away his groceries.

"Don't worry about it; in fact you have a lovely day now, Ms. Sasaki". The man set the fee on the counter and grabbed his paper bag. Grinning at Ayano in a way that unnerved her, he left the small grocery store and disappeared from sight. Suddenly fear and realization dawned on the young woman.

"How… How did that man know who I was"? A draft set against the back of her neck, and laughter bellowed somewhere near. Could Nakura be waiting, in watch, somewhere close by? She set her hand against her pocket, feeling the weight if her cell phone, and the dignified shape of the dancing sushi charm, she felt grounded. If she was being stalked, she refused to be a damsel in distress; she would be her own knight in shining armor, and if Shizuo Heiwajima felt the urge to protect her in a fight, she wouldn't be complaining.

"Ayano Sasaki, I swear to God if you show up at my next job, this isn't coincidence". She glanced up, leveling her brown eyes with a pair of eyes tinted with dark blue sunglasses.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear"… She muttered to herself and rang up the milk, and loaf of bread Shizuo had decided on purchasing. It didn't take long for her to bag his items, but as she slid them to his side of the cabinet, they studied by one another.

"I must say Shizuo, I am bewildered by you. You amaze me, to be candid". Shizuo was quiet for a moment.

"I haven't gotten to figure you out yet, but from what I've gathered, you're in trouble". Ayano shrugged, she didn't want to create some mass unsettlement, so she turned and began organizing cans of soup and beans on the shelf behind her.

He poured himself a glass of milk when he got home and studied today's date on the calendar. He'd seen Ayano three times in two days, and she was bewildered by him? What was that supposed to mean? Was it a compliment, was she insulting him? He rested his chin against his palm, removing his sunglasses with his other hand, he then being as talented as he was set an unlit cigarette between his lips and lit it one handed. He had an overwhelming desire to figure this woman out, not to stalk her, but simply to see who Ayano Sasaki really was.

What Shizuo didn't know, was Ayano was also mentally coming up ways to figure out who Shizuo was. She studied the flickering white blank on the search if her phone and sighed. What was she going to do, look him up? She studied her fingernails, yellow paint still there. The sudden outburst of her boss's foreign accent startled her from her thoughts.

"I-ya-no back to work, back to work"! Her boss still had trouble forming the Japanese pronunciation of her name. She nodded, and took a quick glance at the clock. Only so long before her shift ended and she got to go home, since it was Saturday she would not have night classes that evening or the next. Her plans for that evening included wearing a worn pair of pajamas and settling into her old aging couch with a thick blanket, and watching some good old TV. Though her thoughts instantly shifted to Shizuo Heiwajima. Could it be she was attracted to him? No, Ayano Sasaki was not, or would never be the type to fall in love.


	4. Chapter 4

Izaya grinned, after three weeks of endless play his prey had finally given into his game.

"Nakura, if I meet you will you finally leave me alone"? Through the bold black lettering Izaya could almost hear Ayano's voice of discomfort and anger.

"Oh how I love humans! Ayano Sasaki you have just entered a most dangerous game"!

And that is how he got there, that night after setting up Ayano's 'kidnapping' and having Celty deliver her to the building she marched herself to the top floor, and now stood at the ledge, as Izaya tempted her to jump, calling her worthless, and downing her pride and confidence. An icy wind blew, tossing both her long black hair that was free of its usual hair tie and ruffling both her and Izaya's coats. The recent warm weather had vanished, replacing the normally comfortable evenings with a raw bone chilling black night.

"Explain to me again, why I should take my own life, Nakura? Her voice was less vocal as it had been when he'd first spoken to her. She only saw his silhouette and never his face amongst the shadows.

"Because, your life isn't worth living". Izaya stepped from the shadows, grinning crazily like a mad man.

"You, you're the guy from before! At the store"! Izaya grinned as she unconsciously stepped back slightly. The edges of her shiny dark purple heels slid ever so slowly over the buildings ledge. She didn't seem to notice, her black eyes glittered in fear at Izaya's very presence.

"Oh Ayano, how can you be so stupid, I mean I dropped so many hints to who I really was in our brief exchange. It only makes sense though how stupid you are; I mean you couldn't even save your own brother's life". Ayano's eyes widened and her face paled.

"How could you know about Touchi, I don't even know you"! Izaya's grin grew and he suddenly leapt the small fence separating him and her, she was even closer to falling to her demise.

"Oh but I know everything about you Ayano Sasaki, and how when you first turned twenty you went out and partied a little too hard and illegally I might add, and when you stumbled home to your dear brother, only fifteen at the time and you two got into a fight and he ran down the stairs of your apartment, and he slipped. Remember how you screamed, your intoxication buzz cleared and you hurried to rescue your brother's life? Do you remember how you-".Izaya paused for a moment, watching how Ayano's eyes glimmered with nostalgia and horror.

"Failed". Izaya leaned forward and whispered that six letter word in her ear, and Ayano stepped backward and fell. Izaya instantly reached outward, and caught her hand. Ayano's eyes held hope.

"Stupid girl". And Izaya released the girl's hand, allowing Ayano Sasaki to fall.


	5. Chapter 5

Celty had a long day, a very long day. Between constant deliveries under her line of work as a transporter and bettering her culinary skills for her future with Shinra, another job from Izaya made her want to groan in complete exhaustion. So as the young medical student clung to her waist as she drove her to the building 'Nakura' had designated the meeting point she felt sorry for the girl. This was the girl that Izaya had fantasized about humiliating to death, and no doubt she would end up hurtling herself over the edge of the building.

Now as Celty rounded the corner of the building to save the woman from her death she watched in horror as the girl hurtled from the high building, her scream was airy. She reached to create a web of her substance to catch her, but as she neared the ground her death bound form was caught by none other than the blonde man outfitted as a bartender.

"Izaya, I thought I hated you before, but after this I WILL KILL YOU"! Shizuo yelled to the smaller raven haired man above. The dark haired woman in his arms was shaking violently, like she hadn't even recognized Shizuo, or that she had even stopped falling.

"Oh Shizu-chan, but you see she deserves to die. She was responsible for her own brother's death". Ayano's eyes doubled in size and she began to cry.

"Touchi"… She whimpered, seeking comfort in the curve of Shizuo's arm.

"You'll find out soon enough, Shizu-chan"! Izaya cackled, and then disappeared from view. Celty rode up beside her close friend.

"Here, Ayano go with Celty. She'll keep you safe. Celty"? Celty nodded and the girl was set on the back of the bike.

"I'll take good care of you". Celty typed out on her PDA, and Ayano nodded weakly, leaning against the back of her leather jacket. As soon as Ayano was set firmly on the bike he began scaling the wall inhumanly in pursuit of his nemesis.

"You don't seem too banged up to badly, subtracting your shoulder, and that nastily bruised ankle. Ikebukuro's a tough place for cute girls like you". Shinra said as he was dabbing antiseptic on the slash in Ayano's shoulder, she flushed faintly and murmured a quiet

"Thank you"… Celty waited until Shinra had stepped away from the young woman to hit Shinra in the arm.

"Ow, Celty you know you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met, you don't have to hurt me. Though jealousy does look good on you"! Shinra said while then busying himself among needles to repair Ayano's shoulder. When Izaya had gone to catch her, he'd caught her on the arm that had been stitched, thus tearing nearly most of them out. Ayano hadn't realized the mess of hot blood and pain till Shinra had asked her to change into the white mesh tank top and shorts.

Celty quickly typed on her PDA for Shinra to shut up, but he rolled his eyes and busied himself repairing her shoulder.

The door to Celty's and Shinra's apartment opened.

"Hey, where are you guys"? Shizuo's voice came out rough and tired. Before a response was heard, he entered their living room to find Shinra stitching up a familiar young woman whose face was tight with pain. The clothing she wore, the florescent lighting, and the long stark of her midnight black hair against her face and back made her look deathly pale. Shizuo limped to a nearby chair, and collapsed.

Lighting a cigarette he took a long drag, and then blew the smoke from his parted lips. His blue sunglasses slid from hi s face, revealing to Ayano he had rather pretty brown eyes.

"So who is this Touchi character and how are you responsible for his death"? He said.

"Shizuo don't be so candid"! Shinra scolded as he tightened a stitch. Ayano lowered her dark eyes.

"No, it's fine… You three deserve to know. Especially you Shizuo, you saved my life"… She sighed gathering her breath and courage.

_A young woman strode out of the larger room of a two bedroom apartment. Her heels made soft clicks and indentations on the stained avocado carpet. A young boy of fifteen's black eyes glanced up from a video game and blinked. His elder sister stood wearing a tight red shirt, and a short black skirt, and her hair had been let free of its pins and fell down her back in a wild ocean of black. She grinned, her lips painted in red, and her eyes outlined in black. _

"_How do I look"? _

"_Great, but if you walk out like that… You might not come back sis"._

"_What do you mean by that Touchi"? She asked while pawing through the leopard skin bag resting on her shoulder. _

"_Some crazy guy might decide you look like his dead wife and use you as a virginal sacrifice to some demon". Ayano burst into a loud laugh, nearly doubling over. After regaining composure she strode over to her brother and ruffled his lengthy mass of black unkempt hair that always resided in his eyes. _

"_Oh Touchi, you're so silly". She kissed his cheek, leaving a glossy print of lipstick on his cheek. He rubbed it off quickly, but was blushing. Touchi and Ayano were as close as brother and sister could be._

"_I'll be back by ten". But she wasn't, at one in the morning Touchi Sasaki sat awake knowing his fingernail in worry, when the front door opened and in stumbled his sister. Any trace of sobriety and beauty his sister held earlier vanished with the five hours that had passed. _

"_Wh-What are you still…Doing awake T-T-Touchi"? Ayano asked, her eyes were bleary and her balance was off. _

"_I was waiting for you; do you know how worried I was"? Touchi had chewed his thumb nail to the quick, and his hair stood up on ends suggesting he'd been running his hands through it many times, another nervous habit he'd picked up. The TV was also turned off, but the light of his game station still glimmered suggesting he'd hastily given up._

"_Don't you dare scold me! I'm the adult here"!_

"_You sure the hells are not acting like it"! Touchi snarled, he didn't see her pale hand rise, but felt it connect with his face with a fiery sting. Instantly, Touchi's world shattered. His sister, his beautiful big sister, who looked up to, had just hit him in a flame of drunken rage. He instantly ducked past her, and ran out the opened door, he leapt downstairs, two at a time, but one of the neighbors had to have left some laundry or something and due to his panicked state Touchi wasn't paying the best of attention… Suddenly he was falling, and then he wasn't. His vision was spotty, and his sister was leaning over him, shouting, crying, and apologizing all at once._

"_Sis"… He murmured and shut his eyes._

"_Touchi, no please! I'm so sorry! Don't leave me! I love you, I'm so sorry! Brother wake up, please"! _

"And that's how I killed my brother"… Ayano Sasaki's voice was quiet, and low. From her lengthy bangs it could be seen her eyes glimmered with tears. Once again she had out casted herself from potential friends and into that dark loneliness again… She wished she had jumped off that building to her death, maybe she could be back again with Touchi…

And then, suddenly she was being gently embraced. She winced as cotton rubbed against the tender of her shoulder, but rested slightly forward against the one who so boldly held her.

"It isn't your fault, Ayano". Shizuo said to her, he was being extremely gentle, carefully trying to avoid putting any physical pain to her delicate frame.

"Thank you Shizuo Heiwajima… Thank you for understanding my pain"… Celty and Shinra stood off to the side, their fingers were entwined and Shinra was grinning.

"Love is a lot like a cold Celty, its common, and once you have it, it stays around for a long, long time". He said while grinning at the space where her head would have sat.

Izaya spun in his chair and sighed.

"Well that was no fun, but I did get to see Shizu-chan at the very least"… His eyes rolled back to the flickering computer monitor as Taro or Mikado messaged him.

"I wonder where Kanra is this evening".


	6. Chapter 6

The young woman walked slowly beside the blonde man. A quiet chatter passed in between as they rounded a street corner to the dull apartments that were the Sasaki residence.

"Thank you, Shizuo for walking me home". Ayano said while unlocking the apartment.

"It wasn't any trouble. Truth is you don't live to far from me"

"Huh, that's kind of funny… Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee"? The young woman in truth didn't want the body guard to leave. She was finally beginning to feel safe from Izaya and didn't think she'd be able to sleep very well.

"Sure, that sounds pretty nice". She nodded and unlocked the door, and stepped into her apartment. The two abandoned their shoes at the front door do to their customs and Ayano led Shizuo into the kitchen.

"You may have a seat wherever you wish". She said while indicating to the furniture. Shizuo nodded and set back in one of her dining chairs. He noticed everything there was to see, from the old couch, to the two closed bedroom doors, to the small bathroom, and the stained avocado carpet that padded throughout the room. The woman held her back to him, as she busied herself with fidgeting with the dials on the gasoline stove.

"I know it isn't much, but it's all I can afford"… The hot water licked up from the bottom of the white ceramic cup, and splashed against her wrist as she tried to speak her way out of embarrassing herself in front of this new man.

"No, this is a castle compared to my place". Shizuo said, and it was the truth. Despite being the older brother of a famous actor, Shizuo didn't have much pocket change. The woman in all her frailness set a coaster in front of him, and then placed the hot coffee.

The two adults awkwardly sipped from their cups eyeing one another. Ayano felt it quite obvious how she was attracted to the muscular blonde man.

"So, do you have any plans for tomorrow"? Wondered the body guard to the woman across from him, he watched her long thin fingers tighten on her cup, and her face formed a small smile.

"Yes, actually it being Monday and I don't have to work the next two days I planned to go see Akifumi in the morning. After that no, well at least not until later on in the evening, but that's only school". Shizuo nodded; slightly angered at the thought of her visiting another man but he cast it aside as protectiveness.

"Would you mind if I came along? Then we could grab some lunch or something"… He rubbed the back of his neck. What the hell was he doing?

"That sounds lovely Shizuo. We can meet at the hospital about eleven am"? Shizuo nodded and glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight, and the sudden desire for sleeping and being in bed overtook him.

"I know that face from raising my brother… You're very tired aren't you"? Ayano asked, standing up and collecting the coffee cups.

"Yeah, it's been quite a long day". He said while massaging his shoulder. The faucet in the kitchen turned on and she rinsed the cups.

"Well I won't keep you. You can head on home now if you'd like, because as soon as you leave I'm going to sleep".

"Well then I certainly won't keep you Ayano". She nodded and set the two empty cups into the dishwasher, and hurried to the front door where he was lacing up his shoes. As he stood up to his full height, he towered over the petite woman and her small frame.

"Thanks for the cof-". Shizuo began, but he was cut off. The young woman was gazing at him sternly, a well manicured nail pressed against his lips to silence him.

"As embarrassing as this is, I need you to lean down. I'd like to kiss you, but unfortunately as it is I'm much shorter then you are and I'm not going to get a step stool, or leap up and down like some sort of puppy". Shizuo's mouth turned upward in a smile behind her finger and he leaned to a more suitable height for her. She removed her finger and replaced it with her mouth.

Shizuo tasted like a mix of things, coffee, and a slight hint of cigarette, mint, and a taste the woman couldn't describe. Ayano tasted like a mix of things, coffee, citrus, and a taste Shizuo couldn't describe. But nonetheless as the two shared a long, innocent kiss in her open doorway, the enjoyed it, and each other's company and attraction. When they parted, Ayano whispered a quiet

"Thank you" into the blonde man's hair. When he pulled from her, his face burned red, but hers held a smile.

"Goodnight, Shizuo. Get home safely"… And the black haired woman closed the door. Shizuo grinned, lit a cigarette and embedded his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the apartments and onto his own home.

The next morning Shizuo stood outside smoking at the designated meeting place, but instead of it being a bright sunshine morning, an excellent day for an excellent day, it was an absolute downpour, so he stood in the safety of the overhead canopy the hospital had built onto its entrance. He glanced at his watch as people entered and exited the hospital, when a smiling figure beneath an orange umbrella appeared before him. The woman was wearing an obnoxious yellow raincoat with an image of a smiling flower on the lower left hand side.

"Shall we go in"? Ayano asked while closing her umbrella, sealing it, and shaking free excess rainwater. Shizuo nodded and they walked in side by side. Once in the safety of the warmer building, Ayano removed her bright red bucket hat and shook free her long hair and then removed her yellow rain jacket. She wore underneath a dark blue turtleneck sweater, and a grey skirt that reached her knees, black tights, and white heeled shoes. Shizuo did not like the looks other men where giving her, so he protectively wrapped his hand in hers, dwarfing it in size and strength as he and her faces warmed at the skin contact. As they walked wordlessly to the elevators the heels of her shoes made soft clicks against the tiled ground, her coat and umbrella hung on her arm that wasn't connected to Shizuo's.

"Why do you wear those shoes"? He asked her as they rode up to the eight floors.

"For starters, I like the sound they make when I walk… And secondly, I don't have to make you crouch when I want to kiss you". Shizuo blushed at that statement, but also grinned. Ayano Sasaki was something else.

Now he stood awkwardly in the corner of the room as Ayano sat bedside with the young man whose life she saved.

"I'll never be able to thank you enough, Ms. Sasaki" Akifumi said while grinning at her.

"Don't worry about it. Here, I brought you something to help you feel better". A brown paper bag materialized itself from the lemon yellow coat she held in her lap and she grinned as he opened the small parcel.

"A homemade chocolate muffin, thanks Ayano". Akifumi smiled once more and took a bite. She and Akifumi had been chattering away for the past forty five minutes. Shizuo had awkwardly introduced himself when he'd first met Akifumi, but he could see he was a sort of a third wheel.

"Well sorry to cut this short Akifumi, but the rains let up a bit, and Shizuo and I have a date to go on. I'll be back for a visit soon enough".

"Alright, you lucky duck, take care". Akifumi didn't really clarify who he said that to, but he watched the pair disappear out of the hospital room with longing.

In the warmth of Russia Sushi Ayano and Shizuo sat across from each other and looked at the menu. The small girl finally noticed Shizuo was staring at her very stoically.

"What"?

"That Akifumi man was a little more interested in you then I liked. I want to be nearby when you go to visit him again"… Ayano had been drinking water when Shizuo had explained his reasoning, and she nearly spat it out from laughter.

"Oh my God Shizuo, don't do that to me when I'm drinking"! The woman howled, doubling over, tears leaked down her cheeks and her entire body, not to mention her side of the booth shook with laughter.

"What do you mean"? He clutched his chopsticks as if he were about to snap with anger. Ayano, catching the drift wiped her dark eyes and smiled at him.

"You mean you really didn't get it"?

"No, what am I supposed to be getting"? He asked before lifting the glass of water to his lips and drinking.

"Akifumi-san is gay! He was checking you out the entire time"! Suddenly water burst from the blonde man's mouth, drenching the dark haired woman who made a slight squeamish sound.

"I wish I were still wearing my raincoat"… Shizuo's face to his ears darkened in pure embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry"!

"She-Zu-Oh, you aren't supposed to get your pretty girlfriend wet with spit, unless that's some sort of fetish"! Simon said in his thick Russian accent while approaching the two with a towel. Instantly Ayano's face turned a bright red and she began laughing hysterically once more.

"Here you are She-Zu-Oh's girlfriend. Dry of yourself and please save the fetish's for your home. This is an all age's restaurant". And completely out of character, Shizuo himself dissolved into a fit of laughter just as Simon and the woman before him had.


End file.
